HNLMS Douwe Aukes (''ML 1'', ''N 81'') was a minelayer of the

Royal Netherlands Navy The Royal Netherlands Navy ( nl, Koninklijke Marine, links=no) is the naval force of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. During the 17th century, the navy of the Dutch Republic (1581–1795) was one of the most powerful naval forces in the world an ...

. She was built in the Gusto shipyard at

Schiedam Schiedam () is a city and municipality in the west of the Netherlands. It is located in the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area, west of Rotterdam, east of Vlaardingen, and south of Delft. In the south the city is connected with the village ...

as the lead ship of the Douwe Aukes class, and one of her early commanders was Eugène Lacomblé.

Service

Second World War

On 14 May 1940 the ''Douwe Aukes'' fled to the United Kingdom, picking up survivors from the sinking of the ''Johan Maurits van Nassau'' during the crossing.scheepvaartmuseum.nl :: Maritieme Kalender: 14 mei
/ref> She was first stationed at Falmouth alongside her sister ship ''Van Meerlant'' and the HNLMS ''Medusa''.,naval-history.net :: Royal Navy Ships, 10 June 1940
/ref> and then at

Sheerness Sheerness () is a town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 11,938, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby town ...

. From 29 April 1941 she was lent to the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

for anti-aircraft duties on the eastern English coast. She was also active in the

D-Day landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

.scheepvaartmuseum.nl :: Maritieme Kalender: 6 June
/ref> She was returned to the Dutch navy in 1945.

Post-war

Post-war, the ''Douwe Aukes'' acted as a depot ship for the

Mine Service The Royal Netherlands Navy Mine Service (Dutch: Mijnendienst) is a department within the Royal Netherlands Navy that is responsible for keeping Dutch coastal waterways and approaches to major seaport areas mine-free. It was established out of the ...

, then from 1959 as accommodation for the Mine Service at Hellevoetsluis. She finally left service in 1960.

Notes

Sources

*Mark, C. ''Schepen van de Koninklijke Marine'' in ''W.O. II Alkmaar: De Alk bv'', 1997 94-103 {{DEFAULTSORT:Dowe Aukes Douwe Aukes-class minelayers Ships built by Gusto Shipyard 1922 ships World War II minelayers of the Netherlands